Through Sickness and Health
by IDoBelieveInMagic
Summary: We all know that Peter is stubborn, but did we know that it could...be fatal? [Chapter Six Added]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Magic is back with another story and I have to say that I'm not sure what you're going to think about this. My first attempt at a mini fight and a POV so it could crash and burn. (sniffs) I hope it doesn't. XD**

**Disclaimer: You know that these characters belong to Mr Lewis. You just came here for my cookies. **

"Edmund, for the last and FINAL time, I am NOT SICK!"

"Peter, yes, you ARE sick or you wouldn't be sniffing and sneezing every few seconds or being grumpy boots!"

"I think I can tell when if I'm sick or not since it is technically MY body! I thought I had a nice family!"

"Yes, a family that doesn't particularly want YOU to spread your stupid germs all over the place, and get yourself even worse because you were too stubborn and pig-headed to get yourself seen to. Now go and see one of the Healers before I take you up there myself!"

"NO!"

It had been going on like this between Edmund and I for the last half an hour. I mean...Ed is the greatest brother ever and is my best friend, but he has got to stop being so determined all the time. He wouldn't get it into his head that maybe the reason I didn't want to go up to the Healers was because maybe I wasn't actually sick.

Yes, I had been sneezing a lot, but who doesn't when a certain know-it-all brings back a pile of dusty books from the library.

Susan.

Yes, I did have a red nose, but with the sun being out and it being so cold, I'm surprised that it's just my nose that is red.

"Ed, go away please? I don't want to fight anymore!" I moaned, my head falling back onto a cushion behind me and shutting my eyes before she could say anything else.

Maybe that would shut him up for a bit.

"Susan, make him see sense," I heard Edmund plea to my sister, who had currently been teaching Lucy about the best way to aim an arrow.

"Oh no...don't drag me into this," Susan replied. "If Peter doesn't want to go, then he doesn't have to."

I silently made a note to thank Susan with all my being later on in the day and give her anything she wanted, but then a huff and a flump against the chair, signalled that Ed had given up his war against making me go.

I mentally cheered.

"Thanks Su...ATCHOOO!" I tried to say, and was interrupted by a loud sneese erupting from my mouth. Giving a sniff, I pulled out a tissue and blew my nose. Stupid dust.

Looking around the room, I saw that Edmund had gone back to writing out future battle plans and that Susan and Lucy were having a nice time, giggling. Only Lucy could get Susan Pevensie to giggle. I shook my head. I really wasn't in the mood to do any work and I couldn't be bothered to go upstairs to my bedchamber so I decided to go and wake myself up with a gallop along the beach. Nothing like a blast of fresh, cold air to make you awake.

"I'll see you lot later, and Edmund, BEHAVE," I warned jokily.

Edmund gave me a mock glare and threw one of the cushions near him, making me duck as I ran out of the door.

I pulled on my thick, winter robes and headed out into the brisk, icy air.

Young fox cubs and Badger cubs were messing about with snow-lions and the others were either ridding the grounds of snow or having snowball fights. This was the time where I missed my friends back in that place...yes, MISSED...as much as I hated to admit it, it had always been fun with them at school and now it was oddly quiet.

I headed slowly in the direction of the stables, the snow crunching under my feet and my ears already burning from the attack of the cold.

"I wish I had brought a hat," I thought, rubbing my ears with gloved hands to try and get some feeling back into them. Maybe doing riding wasn't such a good idea, but I shook my head and carried on down the path. I'd feel warmer when I got going.

My hand was just about to turn the handle on the gate when I saw a shadow flicker across the corner of my eye.

What was that?

"Hello?" I said, looking around.

Nothing.

I continued on turning the handle.

SNAP.

I swung round, knowing for certain that I had heard a sound from somewhere behind me. I wasn't alone.

All of a sudden, a familiar laugh entered my ears. A sneering, mocking one. One that made my blood boil.

"Looking for somewhere to stay, Little King?" the sound of a wolf sneered at me, appearing from the shadows nearby, along with six others growling menacingly.

"How did you get in here? This place is banned from animals like you! How did you get past the guards?" I growled back, my eyes narrowed and hand on the top of my sword.

"Temper, King, you wouldn't want that to get you into trouble, would you? We have our ways into such places."

"Then let me show you the way OUT!"

The wolf's eyes narrowed at that command. It seemed that he still had a soft spot from that experience.

"ATTACK! Make him feel the pain that our lost brother felt!"

I pulled out Rhindon, and set forward to rid the wolves of Cair Paravel. I wouldn't let them taint the castle with their evil, and I would protect my and Aslan's family with every breath in my body. I ducked and rolled away from the fierce, drooling teeth, and stabbed the side of one of them, feeling the tip of my sword slice through easily and watching warm blood stream through the hole now clear in its side, a pained howl (almost like a scream) shrieked when my aim was true, but the sound pierced through my very soul, reminding me of the final howl that the Captain Maugrim gave when he jumped and fell on the very tip.

"You think that you can beat me, wolf, then you even more stupid than your late Captain," I snarled, eyes following the last wolf remaining. "You know his story and that this was the very sword that killed him! Leave now while you still have the chance to breathe!"

The wolf was now leant low to the ground, eyes narrowed and sweat glistening within its fur as both I and it circled each other, waiting for the right time to attack and end this.

A swipe, a stab…a bite. Pain shot in waves through the entire length of my back, claws ripping through my flesh, bites on my shoulder and legs. I never felt so much agony in my life. It was like fire was running through all the veins and particles of my body and burning everything in its path. I had to keep going. I couldn't let them win, but even with the yelp of a direct hit, each swipe was getting weaker and slower.

In the distance, a screaming horn could be heard.

"Been nice killing you, Son of Adam," the wolf muttered, dragging me by the leg down one of the hills, and behind a pair of rocks, a trail of life-giving blood following slowly behind me.

With these words, he turned on his heel and left with the group, heavy snow beginning to fall and screams filling the air.

I had failed. I was meant to be the High King, the eldest brother, but I hadn't even been able to take care of a pack of rogue wolves.

I was weak. Every second that passed, I felt my heart slow and a bitter coldness through me, covering me like some kind of cruel blanket. Wanting to take me from those I love and care for. I watched the clouded air above my face drift up and away. It was hypnotising in a way.

"I-I'm sorry…forgive me."

My last thought?...

Would anyone find me in time?

**A/N: That's it.**

**A/N: Or not. I'm not that cruel with cliffhangers. (coughs)electrum(coughs) xD. I'll bring more, and maybe this fic might turn into a four chapter thing. Who knows?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: It has been way too long for you lot to wait for this chapter. xD. I just wanted to make it as good as I could so I didn't get hit with too many tomatoes. Lol. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: You all know that these characters all belong to C.S Lewis, but I can dream, can't I? D**

Chapter Two

It was snowing…and I HATE snow.

I know it had been years since that time with her, but I know that nightmares are always the worst things to forget and take time to sink in, and with what I saw and what happened, I'm not sure that I'll ever really forget being with the White Witch. It had dug itself too deep into my thoughts and would be a reminder of who I once was.

Plus, it was quiet.

Too quiet, and being the person I am (even though Lu says I like to brood a lot), I like to have my noise around me, keeping me safe and helping me to keep an eye on how the Narnians and his family felt. You could always know if Susan wasn't happy because you could hear her footsteps walking up and down the corridor to her bedchamber, back and forth.

Annoying, really.

Here I stood, looking over the gentle seas near Cair Paravel, waves crashing against the rocks and entertaining the mermaids. I don't know they stand such cold waters. I was already shocked to find Peter once swimming in the grey seas, replying that 'he needed a brisk waking-up call' and I replied 'Fine…if you want to turn into a human icicle!'

Though the waves echoed in the distance, an odd quietness was settling, almost like the falling snow outside. I wasn't used to such quietness and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It made things seem so much colder. The birds that stayed for the winter weren't singing, the clouds were growing darker. Some may see this as an upcoming blizzard, but something...I couldn't say what…something deep within me was telling me that something had happened.

My thoughts felt like they were drifting and as the thoughts found their pattern, along came the image of Peter. It wasn't the familiar shy smile that I was used to, it wasn't even the strong look he wore before heading into battle, but…scared. Terrified even, and paler than the skin worn in death.

"No," I muttered, shaking my head fiercely, not wanting to see such things.

Peter was fine and well. Well, as well as a person who was sick could be, and yet…

The stubborn git.

I could hear him now telling me that I shouldn't even know such a 'colourful' language and that I would be setting a bad example to Susan and Lucy, but I could tell him a few times when all three of my siblings had used such language. Anyway, what else could you call someone who refused to say they were sick when it was obvious they were on their last legs?

So he was High-King? So what? He was also a human and that didn't mean he could hold off any illness until he was ready for them. Plus, he was admitting it to himself by carrying the smell of peppermint around him. Only used in occasions when he had colds.

My eyes carried themselves around the grounds of the Castle, seeing many of the fauns and centaurs heading for the cover of the corridors as the snow blew around them and howled.

_Edmund…_

That voice.

He was back.

_Edmund…Narnia is in danger._

"What do you mean?" I breathed, not seeing any sign of the ancient lion, but feeling the warmth and strength he brought with him.

_Peter has been attacked and has been taken through revenge. Narnia is feeling his pain. He needs his family…he needs you!_

"But, Aslan, where is he?" I cried, looking around my room. "Where is he?"

_He will show you the way. Follow the signs, Son of Adam, and he will not lead you wrong._

The feeling disappeared, taking away Aslan and all the answers that I wanted to ask him for. What did he mean 'Narnia is feeling his pain'? What has Peter? WHERE is Peter? I had to find him. If Aslan was right, then I couldn't let him suffer, not like I had.

"Ed, Oreius needs to ta…what is it?" came the voice of Lucy from the door to my bedchamber, her face had held a smile but it was now dying from whatever look my own face carried.

"It's Peter," I said quietly.

"Peter! What do you mean? If something had happened to him, we would have heard or the horn would have been sound!" Lucy said, her rosy cheeks paling, probably at the same thought that raid my own feverish mind. "Edmund, what's happened to him?"

"A-Aslan told me. He-He said that Peter was attacked and that he was taken through r-revenge,"

"Oh no…NO! Not Peter! Oh, Ed, we have to get the army together! We have to find Peter! Susan! SUSAN!"

Hurried footsteps told me Lucy had run to find our older sister. If she could move into action so quickly, why not me? Why couldn't I move?

Words came to the surface as I tried to make some understanding of what was happening. Words that I vowed never to forget and hold by till the day I died.

_What you have done is in the past, Edmund, but there will be a time when all you have done will be come back and test you, pushing you to your very limit and forcing you to overcome the fear that lies within you. I do not know when this will happen, but when it does, you will know and it will lead you further on your path to being the King you dream to be. Take the test and learn from it. Your family will stand beside you and your decisions. They will believe in you and so will I._

I felt my hand find its way to my sword and clench tightly around it. I wasn't going to let Peter go through what he had. He meant too much to the kingdom. He means…

"…too much to me!" I growled, turning away from the window and marching out of the door and down to where I knew the army would be held. They were going to find their High-King and were going to bring him home.

"I promise."

**A/N: See? I didn't kill Peter. I kept him alive, but I wanted to get through the thoughts and doubts that Ed might be feeling.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yes. I'm back. Finally. xD. I've been really busy at college and plus, it didn't help that I haven't been able to remember my password, but here I am with a new chapter and it is up to you to tell me what you think. Enjoy.**

Cold.

That's all I feel.

A cold that numbs every inch of my body, unrelenting. Touching every bone in my body, every muscle, every nerve. Nothing was forgotten, except my memory of ever feeling warmth.

I'm scared.

I'm _angry_!

I don't want to be like this. I want to be able to move and stretch and do what I want could. I want TO BE FREE!

Yet I can't. It won't allow me.

I can't see things like I could before. Everything is dim and desolate now, but something is stirring. Fighting for me. Forcing me to take a breath. Forcing my heart to beat.

No.

Not something.

Someone.

A picture flashes into my mind. I don't know if it's part of my past, my present or my future, but seeing this picture, this face, warms me. It fills me with a feeling that I know that I will never give up on.

Love.

Edmund.

It's him! He's coming! He's coming to find me!

Oh no.

_He's coming to find me!_

I can't let him come here. Not while they're watching. If he brings the girls. I might lose them all and it would be all my fault. I can't…no…I _won't _let that happen! It might be my time, but I won't let it be their's too.

"So...the meat is awake?" whispered a cold, mocking voice.

A pair of yellow eyes bore over me, staring into my own, a sharp mouth pulled back into a sinister grin.

I don't reply.

"There is no use in fighting, little Adam. No-one is coming for you. And if anyone does to decide to die early for you, then I'm sure my pack will be more than willing to sort them out and change the minds of any others nearby."

I narrowed my eyes, every forced breath coming out in painful gasps.

"D-Don't y-y-you dare!" I growled, my voice sounding as weak as I felt.

"You're in no position to fight me!" the wolf snarled, baring its teeth.

"I-I'll do w-what I l-l-like!" I snapped.

Two sharp pains ran through the middle of my chest as the wolf pounced, digging claws deep and snout close to my face.

"You may be King of your pack, but you are in my den now and what I saw is law so listen carefully," the wolf hissed coldly, each word said with a deadly slowness. "I am Sawgron, leader of these Western Woods and your key to the next life."

I shook my head, not wanting to listen to these words. He could say what he wished, but while I still breathed, he would never get me to listen. I could feel ice burning through my veins, coursing through and freezing any blood.

"W-What h-have you d-done?" I whispered, pushing back a moan from the back of my throat. If only the people could see King Peter the Magnificant now.

"Old magic. A sure way of ridding Narnia of its High King and soon the rest of your pitiful monarchy. It won't be long now till this Golden Age is obliterated and the Ice Age of our nobal Queen is restored.

I stared, any words blocked in my throat.

What had I done?

**A/N: Not very long, but it's something, isn't it? Lol. I promise I won't wait so long to update next!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: See? Another chapter and it's only been a couple of days this time. I really enjoyed writing this because you get to see Edmund for the person he really is inside and how he feels about Peter and himself. Enjoy!**

****

Chapter Four

What had I done?

I had let him go out there, sick and on his own and now he's somewhere that I can't find him. I don't like this feeling. It's the same thing I felt when I sat in _her _cell.

I felt so…alone.

So stupid.

So frozen.

Like the ice statues she used to create with her staff. Unable to move, completely at her mercy, and unable to do anything.

An ache appeared in my stomach for only a second, but it was enough to bring those night terrors from the grave of my mind I had desperately tried to keep covered. I press a hand over the pain, trying it push it back.

It works.

Gone like a memory.

"Ed?"

I turn my head and see Lucy by my side, a look of concern etched onto her usually joyful face. I know this look. Only shown to a select few and never stays there long.

"I'm alright, Lu, just thinking," I replied with a crooked smile.

"You should see your face! If you frown anymore, you'll end up as wrinkly as Pet…" Lucy stopped as she was about to let slip Peter's name.

I sighed, still trying to keep a smile on my face, and not wanting to lose such a typical Lucy moment, I did the 'normal Ed' move and stuck my tongue out at her. According to Susan, it is not proper for a King to be so childish, but since when did I have pay attention to what Susan says?

"No-one is going to be as wrinkly as Peter will be!" I laughed, my heart lifting at the sound of Lucy's tinkling giggles. "By the time he reaches thirty, he'll be so wrinkly his forehead will have a mouth!"

It was good to remember how old we truly were, even though I was lying to my heart about how I felt. I needed Peter. He wasn't only my brother but my best friend, my partner-in-crime against Susan's 'serious attacks', my duelling partner and…my hero.

Yes, I know I wouldn't be able to say 'my hero' out aloud in fear of turning into a girl and being classed 'the soppy king', I always made sure every time I looked at Peter in the morning and at night that he knew how grateful I was to be given a second chance by everyone, especially him.

Lucy said her goodbyes, and left me to start cleaning my armour. My tent was cluttered with all sorts of things, some I didn't want to think about, but when I go away from Cair Paravel, I always like to take a piece of home with me and my clutter is that piece.

I broke out of my thoughts when I heard a cough coming from the opening of the tent.

It was Oreius.

"Your highness, our first search group has returned to camp and have returned with…with something I feel you must see."

My heart stopped.

No.

No.

It couldn't be.

Peter never let it leave his side. _Never! _Yet, there it was, held carefully in Oreius's arms, covered in blood.

Rhindon.

Broken.

I hadn't realised but in the seconds between seeing Oreius and seeing Peter's sword, I had started falling backwards. It was a strange sensation, having your mind go numb and your body taking over. I didn't know what was happening until it was too late. Normally, I would have stood there in silence, not fainted like a girl, but sometimes things are out of your control.

"King Edmund!" Oreius cried, quickly catching me before I hit the ground. His voice was like an echo- there yet not there.

I must've blacked out for a few moments because when I was finally able to open my eyes, it was darn and I was lying in my bed, a blanket draped over me. Flashes of a broken sword hit me like a nightmare, making my whole body shiver and causing a raging hot anger to build from the pit of my stomach.

How dare they touch and _break _Peter's sword?

_They had no **bloody **right!_

Lost in my rage, I ended up pretty much breaking most of the objects in my tent. Bowls, cups (shattered). Books, pillows, food (thrown). It was amazing the tent was still up by the time I was finished. Echoing voices appeared somewhere at the back of my mind, telling me to calm down and to put things down, but I was so lost in this feeling that nothing penetrated through. Yet, as I stood there, a bowl ready to be thrown in my hand, my chest heaving, arms wrapped around my neck and my waist, causing the anger to slip away fro me and I simply let the warm embraces bring me back to reality.

"Welcome back, Ed," Lucy smiled, looking up at me.

"Feeling better?" Susan asked, giving me a squeeze and pulling back a little to see my expression.

I thought for a moment. Was I feeling better? I didn't want to break anything anymore but I still felt that burning dormant in my chest, waiting.

"I will be," I replied.

I quietly thanked Su and Lucy, and assured those who had come running at the crashes that I was fine and just needed a bit of time to sort out my thoughts.

Slowly, I sat down on my bed, picking up the covered sword Oreius had left. I carefully wrapped my fingers around the hilt, staring at the grim reflection shining within it. This wasn't going to be the end. We were getting closer, and I was going to make sure that Peter personally ended his captor's life with this sword.

(Wanted a gap! XD)

**A/N: Wow! My longest chapter! Go me and inspiration! xD! I promise that Ed will get to Peter soon, but I have to get the tension up, don't I?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Another chapter has come your way at last. This has to be one of the hardest chapters I've done so far because I had to think about why Peter was where he was and what would make him go back. I find everything difficult. Lol.**

**Disclaimer: Oooo! I forgot this! C.S is the main man:D **

**Chapter Five**

"He's still fighting the magic, Captain," growled one of the wolves from somewhere on my left side. "The leaves aren't falling as fast as before!"

Warm breath appeared on my frozen cheek, adding to the sweat that was trickling down my forehead and cheeks.

"Just because you have figured out what we've done doesn't mean anything! You're just delaying your last few moments of life," Sawgron hissed in my ear.

I didn't care.

I had made a promise and I was staying by it with every part of what I had left. I couldn't talk anymore but it didn't stop me from making trouble. They were not going to kill Narnia through me.

Every breath was savoured, meant that I was still alive. Pictures stayed with me as I lay there, freezing, slowly turning to ice.

Edmund – Strength.

Lucy – Warmth.

Susan – Determination.

My eyes flickered to the leaves above me. Before, leaves had fallen like raindrops, dead and decayed. Yet now they remained strong. Still brown but fighting for their green.

Fighting for life.

A sudden roar passed through me and all at once, the cave I had been kept in disappeared and was replaced with a vast, green countryside. It was oddly comforting and felt like a place I could call home.

"I see you like my country," purred a familiar voice.

Aslan!

"I do, but why am I here? What do you mean your country?" I asked, relieved that my body has gained the remembrance to talk and speak once more.

"You are here because you wished for a refuge from the place where you are being held," Aslan replied, standing beside me and watching with such wild, gentle eyes.

I sighed.

Anywhere was better than there.

I reached out to touch Aslan's mane to try and reassure myself but when I did, my hand passed through and I stumbled back with a choked cry.

"What's going on?"

"You are here and yet you are not," Aslan explained with a throaty laugh. "Your body remains in Narnia whereas your spirit is partly free. Do you understand me?"

Thoughts pounded through my head, trying to desperately understand what was being said. Somewhere deep within, I knew what Aslan was saying but another part refused to admit it was true.

Was I dead?

"Am I dead, Aslan?" I whispered, my voice losing all the power which it would normally have and having to be forced out in a hoarse whisper.

"Yes and no. It is true that your spirit has left your body, but in true form, you are fighting for your right to live and that is what is stopping you from reaching the other side. It is not yet your time to live in my country but you will know when the time comes."

Yet another sigh left me, my eyes taking in the wonder of this new world and trying not to think of the numbness I would soon return to.

"Do not be afraid, Peter, for your brother and sisters are near approaching. It won't be long for you now."

Feeling a warm breath blow over me and then a sharp tug into coldness told that I was back in my iced body. I managed to move my eyes to where the wolves were standing and with a big a smile I could give them, my consciousness slowly slipped away, leaving me with one last thought.

_They're coming._

**A/N: Yet another short chapter (quality not quantity...lol), but the next one will be much longer and you might be able to enjoy that more! Thanks to all the reviews I've gotten so far, especially from _elecktrum, Aqua Mage _and _Elexandros! _Much appreciated! XD!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Behold! It's another chapter and you only had to wait a day! This could be because I have loads of ideas at the minute or maybe because I want more reviews. xD Either way, I hope you enjoy this!**

It had been a day since we had left the safety off the camp and it had been a group decision to follow all the hints that Peter's captors had left us along the way, but as we went trotted through the bushes and the trees of forests, a feeling of unease passed over me. I didn't know what it was, but something was tickling at the back of my mind, telling me that I should be able to know where we were going because I had been here before. Nothing came to me. I was left with nothing but confusion and frustration.

A strange quietness seemed to have taken hold of the group. Orieus's eyes to be forever alert and on-guard as if he was expecting something to attack us at any moment, Lucy looked like she was permanently attached to her reins and the same for Susan (her fingers twitched like they did when she was ready to draw an arrow). The others just rode on, eyes ahead and voices in check. No-one now possesses the happiness we had not long ago at the beginning of our ride.

How was I?

I was fine. Just plagued with this nagging feeling.

Was it so important for me to remember where we were? I know I had been in Narnia for quite some time now, but even I hadn't discovered all if its nooks and crannies. This country had its secrets and I had mine, yet it was as if it was trying to let me in one of those precious secrets and I couldn't hear it right.

The birds that had been flying around us had now silenced, and flew away quicker than I had ever seen a bird fly.

Something had frightened them.

What was it?

Just at that moment of thought, darkness fell upon us like a blanket of the night. Frantic cries pierced the air, and then died. Fearful neighs filled the space around us and then were cut off.

"Philip! What's going on?" I shouted, panic pounding around my quick beating heart.

"I don't know, Edmund! It's like the light has been sucked out!" he cried, somehow being the only horse capable to keep their rider on the saddle. The other horses had bucked and threw their bounty off with a series of loud 'Ow!' probably looking to escape from this darkness.

"Lucy! Susan! Are you both alright?"

"We're fine, but I didn't really want a reminder of how hard the ground can be," Lucy called somewhere from the shadows.

"We need some light or somethin…"

My words died in my throat as light appeared as sudden as it had been taken, revealing (to our surprise) a tightly knitted tunnels of bent trees, plants and vines all twisted into a long archway tunnel.

Sunlight came from the mini cracks that were allowed, but the warmth that the sun tried to give to us was blocked, letting nothing but a cutting blast of ice blow through, sending the hairs on our arms and necks standing. There was no sign of an entrance and no sign of exit. Just a forever long tunnel.

We were trapped.

"I don't like this," I heard Susan whisper.

She had never had been a fan of the dark and even at Cair Paravel; she had to have at least a small candle lit as she fell asleep, especially in nasty storms. Not that she admitted to us that she was scared. That was _very _un-Susan-like. Though we always made sure (secretly) that we left a little light on if the candle ever flickered out. The problem was we couldn't do that here.

"It's okay, Su," I soothed. "We still have some light and this tunnel can't be as long as it looks. We'll find a way out. I promise."

I only wished that I believed in my words because right then, I was feeling the complete opposite and blatantly lying to myself.

Deciding it was better to keep moving; those who had been bucked off had somehow managed to retrieve their horses and headed behind me into the sinister shadows of the tunnel.

There was no point in sitting around waiting for the exit to come to us.

The cold air seemed to intensify the further we moved down, sometimes catching our breaths, making us move slower. The trees looked like they were struggling as much as we were for the green tawny look that had held in their leaves now looked decayed and on the verge of death.

It wasn't a pleasant sight.

There was no life within these plants. It was like the iciness had taken all the light they had within them and sucked them till they were dry, leaving dead shells.

This wasn't any forest in Narnia.

It couldn't be.

Nothing so…dead could possibly live in such a magical place, but there was the evidence, surrounding us.

I don't know if it was the cold, but the further we headed in, the fiercer the feeling I had felt earlier became, pulsing me through like a mantra. _You've been here before. You've been here before. You've been here before._

I shook my head.

_You've been here before. You've been here before. You've been here before. _

The mantra screamed loudly in my head, sending sharp pains around my wrists, ankles, even my left cheek. Of course not forgetting that sinister ache in my stomach. Where was I getting these pains from? I hadn't done a thing to injure myself and memories couldn't hurt me. What were they trying to remind me of? I felt myself leaning forward on my saddle so to rest my burning face on the bottom of Philip's neck, trying to take in the warmth and the coldness that came from it. A cold sweat had taken hold of me, just like it did when I was sick or had a fever.

"Susan, it's happening again!" I heard Lucy exclaim.

"Take the flask of water and get him to take a drink from it," Susan called to her, reaching down into her saddlebag and throwing over a small silver water flask.

What did she mean 'it's happening again'?

"Ed," Lucy smiled, hiding something in her voice whilst patting my ankle to get my attention. "Take a bit of this water…you'll feel better after a drink."

It was cool against the back of my throat and refreshing enough to bring my mind from wherever it had wondered to.

"Thanks, Lu," I muttered, handing her the flask back and wiping the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just probably got myself a bit shaken up earlier and hadn't realised, that's all."

"Okay…just-just take it easy."

"I will."

Watching my little sister head back to her horse, I again became confused. Why was everyone being so careful around me? Had I done something in my sleep? Whatever it was, it was over and we now needed to focus on the task ahead. Finding an exit and getting Peter back.

"King Edmund! King Edmund!"

A roar of cries had erupted around me and a fire spread through the length of my body as my eyes caught sight of a pack of up to four wolves, one carrying a piece of fabric which I knew belonged to Peter. Let's just say me and wolves will never get on unless it was on the end of my sword. Three wolves remained half in the shadows, their ears back and teeth showing. The other carefully walking towards us, low and ready. Its piercing yellow eyes gazed up at me, and if it were possible, it sneered.

"What a pleasure it is to meet a former follower of our late majesty," it said silkily, giving a mocking bow with its head.

"Where is my brother, wolf?" I growled, my hand on the hilt of my sword ready to kill, but knowing that I couldn't until we found Peter.

"He's about, but if you ever want to see him again, that I guess you should come with us. You and no-one else. No weapons and no force or we have the orders to kill you on the spot so stopping you from ever seeing your pack member."

"I'm going nowhere until I see some proof that he's alive!"

"You'll just have to take a word for it, human."

The wolves were eyeing Susan and Lucy a bit too closely, causing me to fight with myself whether to stay with my family or to go with the wolves.

"Don't trust them, Edmund! Nothing they say is the truth!"

I knew that, but if it meant saving my best friend, then I had to do it, regardless of the possible consequences. When I looked at my sisters, they already knew my answer and kept trying to convince me that their idea was the best, but they had to understand that it didn't work like that.

"Alright, I'll go, but you touch one hair on my sisters' head, I will make sure you pay with every blood that is spilled," I said quietly, eyes narrowed into slits.

"Nothing shall happen to them! Now if you don't mind, our Captain is waiting!"

I glared at their orders, but carefully climbed off Philip, but not without whispering quickly: "You know what to do if I don't come back."

Philip nodded.

"But your majesty…" Oreius began.

"Oreius, I'll be fine. Just look after the girls for me."

I placed a hand on the Centaur's shoulder, trying to make him understand this from my point of view. I needed to do this. Not only for myself, but also for the others.

"Alright," he said finally.

I knew how hard it was for him to back down and not come to my aid, but I didn't trust these wolves with an inch of my life and I needed someone to look after everything just in case something bad had happened."

With a quick smile and a blanket underneath my arm, I headed after the wolves, ignoring the familiar harsh breathing and cold toothy grins.

I started this looking for Peter and I was going to end this by bringing him home.

Peter's eyes suddenly forced themselves open from slumber, wide with panic and fear.

_No! EDMUND!_

**A/N: What did you think? Did this chapter work? XS Lol.**


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